Texas is No. 1 in the AP Top 25 after the Longhorns’ huge comeback victory against Ohio State, a result that dropped the Buckeyes to No. 6 on Sunday and, along with Oregon’s upset loss, gave the rankings a second-week shakeup.
Texas received 56 first-place votes, No. 2 Georgia received three, No. 3 Notre Dame got one, No. 4 Indiana had three and No. 5 Miami received four. No. 7 LSU also got a first-place vote.
Texas is No. 1 for the first time since starting last season atop the poll. That preseason ranking did not last long for Arch Manning and the Longhorns. They lost their opener at Ohio State in 2025, fell out of the top 10 a few weeks later, and finished No. 12 in a season that fell well short of expectations.
The scenario was flipped for this season’s Ohio State-Texas game, with the Longhorns using the victory to vault into the top spot in the rankings and the Buckeyes losing their grip on No. 1. Texas last held the No. 1 spot in a regular-season poll when it spent four weeks there during the first half of the 2024 season.
Oregon plummeted 15 spots to No. 21 after losing 39-31 to Oklahoma State. Oklahoma tumbled 13 spots to No. 24 after losing at Michigan 17-10. The Wolverines needed a controversial Hail Mary touchdown to beat Western Michigan and fell out of the poll last week, but they are now 2-0 and back up to No. 19.
No. 8 Ole Miss, No. 9 Texas A&M and No. 10 Alabama give the SEC six top-10 teams this week.
The stage is now set next Saturday night for the first top-10 Ole Miss-LSU rivalry game since 1962.
AP Top 25 after Week 2
RankTeamRalph’s voteRecordPrev
1
1
2-0
4
2
6
2-0
2
3
2
2-0
3
4
7
2-0
5
5
4
2-0
7
6
5
1-1
1
7
3
2-0
8
8
9
2-0
9
9
10
2-0
10
10
8
2-0
12
11
15
2-0
15
12
13
3-0
14
13
11
2-0
13
14
19
2-0
16
15
NR
2-0
18
16
17
2-0
17
17
NR
2-0
20
18
NR
2-0
21
19
25
2-0
NR
20
NR
2-0
23
21
22
1-1
6
22
18
2-0
22
23
12
1-1
24
24
NR
1-1
11
25
14
2-0
25
NR
16
2-0
NR
NR
20
2-0
NR
NR
21
1-1
NR
NR
23
1-1
NR
NR
24
1-1
NR
Others receiving votes: Washington 172, Florida 83, Boise State 57, Oklahoma State 36, Western Michigan 35, Tulsa 18, Mississippi State 17, South Carolina 15, Virginia Tech 11, UCLA 9, James Madison 6, Arizona 5, North Dakota State 3, Pittsburgh 1, Kansas State 1
Also considered by Ralph: Mississippi State, Utah
How Ralph voted
There was no standing pat this week.
Last week, after 23 ranked teams began their seasons with wins over unranked teams, I made few changes, including none at all to the first 11 spots on my ballot.
Leaving Oregon at No. 1 after a close victory at Boise State didn’t go over well with some, and then it looked even worse when the Ducks face-planted in Stillwater, Okla., on Saturday.
I had pretty strong suspicion last week that the winner of Texas-Ohio State was going to be my new No. 1. I knew a shuffle of the top teams was coming. The big game, combined with Oregon’s loss, allowed me to hit reset.
The Longhorns were an easy choice at No. 1, leaving Notre Dame at No. 2. I bumped up LSU to No. 3 and Miami to No. 4. The Tigers have played better competition. Miami has gone on the road.
There will certainly be consternation in Columbus after Ohio State blew a big fourth-quarter lead — there always is when the Buckeyes lose — but there was also no reason for Ryan Day’s team to fall too far. Ultimately, the No. 5 Buckeyes lost a one-point game on the road to one of the best teams in the country.
The choice to keep the Buckeyes in the top five was made easier by the fact that Georgia and Indiana have hardly needed to work up a sweat after two weeks. Though IU putting 50 on North Texas looks more impressive after the Mean Green routed UNLV. Something to monitor.
From there, I moved Alabama, Ole Miss and Texas A&M up to round out the top 10, mostly because they have all faced at least one game of real competition.
The real mess came at the back of the rankings, where I just decided to give some teams an early season reward, starting with Tulsa.
Simply put, Tulsa beat Oklahoma State, which beat Oregon, which beat Boise State. Had the Broncos not impressed in a come-from-behind victory against Memphis on Saturday, I was definitely pondering dumping the Ducks altogether. You need to think about what you have done here, Oregon.
This might all look ridiculous in a few weeks if Oregon figures it out, but let Tulsa and Oklahoma State bask in the glow of their early-season upsets for now.
Speaking of basking in the glow: Let’s talk Western Michigan. I ranked those Broncos No. 24, just ahead of Michigan. This is somewhat symbolic, though not exactly a protest vote. I do not believe WMU was cheated out of a victory by replay review shenanigans in Week 1, but a fair case can be made that Michigan shouldn’t have gotten another take on the Hail Mary.
I dropped Michigan all the way out of the rankings last week, and then the Wolverines went out and beat Oklahoma, a team I had ranked in the top 15.
I had Michigan No. 24 and Oklahoma No. 25 when I first sketched out my ballot, but then decided to give Western Michigan its due and unrank the Sooners.
The WMU-Michigan result has the potential to be problematic all season if both teams end up winning a bunch of games. Frankly, I’m not sure Michigan is going to be up to that task. But if a ranking is a reward — which I believe it is — Western Michigan is worthy after watching a team considered an SEC Playoff contender score fewer points and allow more in the Big House than the Broncos did.
I had plenty of room for some new teams on the ballot this week.
Minnesota, my 21-25 preseason flyer team? Ooof. The Gophers got stomped by Mississippi State. We’re monitoring Kamario Taylor and the Bulldogs.
Navy was my Group of 6 team in the No. 25 slot to start the season. The Middies got beat by FAU’s Air Raid. The American race seems headed toward being a messy affair and the Owls, I suspect, will be part of it.
Washington is 2-0 but yet another sloppy and uninspired performance at home — this time against Utah State — was enough to give the Huskies a timeout.
Next week
There are three matchups between ranked teams, with two undercards and one clear main event:
• No. 22 Houston at No. 13 Texas Tech. A Friday night Big 12 showdown after the Red Raiders survived an upset bid from Oregon State.
• No. 16 SMU at No. 23 Louisville. Whoever wins will be deemed the top challenger to Miami in the ACC.
• No. 7 LSU at No. 8 Ole Miss. You may have heard something about Lane Kiffin returning to Oxford.